


Can You Fall In Love In Three Days?

by Arakyune



Category: Persona 2, Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Akechi Goro Leads the Phantom Thieves of Hearts, Akira just lives in Sumaru with his parents and never met Shido, Alternate Universe of an Alternate Universe, Eventual Akechi Goro/Persona 5 Protagonist, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I can't really describe it, I'm confusing myself, Kurosu Jun & Suou Tatsuya Are the Parents of Persona 5 Protagonist, M/M, and Akira being a happy teen with great parents and family, flower child AU, it will be explained in later chapter, just au of an au, just p5 kids learning that they are definitely not the first persona users in the world, just read it pls, kind of, persona 2 IS & EP fusion?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-05
Updated: 2020-04-09
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:27:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,522
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23488306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arakyune/pseuds/Arakyune
Summary: Akechi hoped that for once, his bad luck would take a break. As the Leader of the Phantom Thieves, he deserved just three days of peace in the unfamiliar city, right? Universe clearly disagreed with him on that one.But that was alright, he was used to having bad luck, he would survive, he thought.And then Akira Kurosu appeared and all that went up the chimney.
Relationships: Akechi Goro/Amamiya Ren, Akechi Goro/Kurusu Akira, Akechi Goro/Persona 5 Protagonist, Kurosu Jun & Kurusu Akira, Kurosu Jun & Persona 5 Protagonist, Kurosu Jun/Suou Tatsuya, Kurusu Akira & Suou Tatsuya, Persona 5 Protagonist & Suou Tatsuya
Comments: 20
Kudos: 138





	1. 1st Day - Nice to Meet You

**Author's Note:**

> I'm bored and tired at the same time. And my PC has 16 Wikia pages open at the same time, so yay, a new record!
> 
> I'm also crying and being salty because I don't have enough money for Royal, so I'm sorry redhead first year, I love you but I don't know you, so you won't be in this story.
> 
> My update schedule is as inconsistent as my sleeping one, soooo... ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our trip starts great! Who am I kidding, Goro's luck is just too bad for that

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried, I (maybe) failed, let me sleep

Goro promised himself he would never believe his good friend, Makoto Nijima ever again.

“Just to help supervise my class,” she said, “It’s just three days trip, nothing bad will happened.” and Goro, being the detective prince, should have realized that three days is a lot of time to get into trouble, especially if the trip is for the whole school.

But at the same time, he hoped, _hoped_ from the bottom of his heart that just maybe, _just maybe_ , things would go smoothly for once. The things, as expected, didn’t go smoothly. At all. He really didn’t know why he was even trying anymore.

Then again, almost all the phantom thieves in one place were already chaotic, but that was the type of chaos he was used to! He was their leader for god’s sake! He had to get used to them! And not to even get him started on Morgana, the cat had way too much free time!

The way to the Sumaru city was already horrendous, on the bus full of teenagers who couldn’t stay quiet for more than two minutes, the bumpy road didn’t help at all, and while he might be exaggerating about how annoying the road was, that didn’t change the fact that it was a five hour and he wasn’t able to focus on his work at all. So yes, sue him for being a bit pissed off. 

Things didn’t get better after getting off the bus and getting a room in a _five-star hotel_ Pleiades, which Haru generously paid for, as the whole school, he included, as he was dragged with them by Makoto, was whisked away for a trip to Kasugayama High School, to learn about the history of the city, as well as the school, since it was built upon an abandoned bomb shelter. And Goro could say yes, that was somewhat interesting. So interesting that it could drag him away from his work? No. But good enough to let all his worries slip away for a few hours.

Of course, his worries didn’t slip away, as he found himself and Makoto sitting next to him, gaping at what looked like a circle-shaped enormous building with numerous zodiac signs at the sides. But with a blink of an eye, it disappeared, and on its place stood a smaller, normal-looking mall. 

Both of them looked at each other and then around them. From the lack of reaction, they could see that the other students didn’t notice anything amiss, while Morgana _demanded_ to be let out of the bag Goro was carrying him in. It only took the cat a few seconds to get his head out of there, without any help or input from Goro, mind you, only to be left speechless as it looked the direction of the circle-shaped building.

“What the hell is that?!” he almost yelled and Goro was half tempted to just shut Morgana’s mouth however he could. Instead, he just made a quick ‘shhh’ sound, as half of the school bus started looking for the cat they heard.

“Wait, it’s gone? How?!” he continued, his voice whisper but Goro could tell that Margana wanted to yell, “not to mention that the whole city smells like a metaverse!”

And Goro realized that he really just wanted to slap the cat, because, what?!

“What do you mean it smells like metaverse?! You couldn’t mention it sooner?!” he whispered, and somehow the cat just didn’t recognize his threatening tone. Or maybe he did but ignored it, who knows.

“I thought it was you! But no, not even someone who spends there half each day could smell like that! It’s just everywhere!” Makoto next to him face-palmed, “Be careful guys, if this city smells this strongly, it might be possible for shadows to manifest here, not to mention what would happen if your clothes changed.”

Goro was left speechless for a moment and when he came to himself again, they were already getting off the bus and all he could do was thinking how rotten his luck was. He gets out of the city once and ends up in one that is somehow connected to metaverse and personas! The universe really just hated him.

“Did you see that?! What was-” Ryuji didn’t get to finish his question as Ann’s hand clapped over his mouth.

“Quiet! I told you others probably didn’t see anything! Or do you want to out us as thieves right here and now?!” she whispered angrily while looking around them to see if anyone heard anything. Thankfully, they were ignored.

“So what was that? You saw that right?” Ryuji said, somewhat quieter but still loud enough so that the other thieves could hear him.

“No idea.” said Makoto, while Haru finally caught up to them, shaking her head, “But Mona said-”

“The whole town smells like metaverse! Be extra careful guys and if you see a shadow, try to avoid fighting. We don’t know what would happen if you summoned your personas here!” Morgana said, his head shooting out of the bag, thankfully still looking like a normal cat.

“But what if-”

“UH-UM, May I have your attention?!” said a voice almost right behind them and all of them turned quicker than ever before.

Behind them stood Ms. Chouno, looking somewhat disappointed, with an unknown man almost the same height as her, who was smiling pleasantly… right at Goro. Goro felt a chills run up his spine as the brown eyes scanned him and for once, didn’t even try to look into them. Instead, his gaze set on one of the man’s pockets, from where a single yellow flower could be seen.

“Now that I have your attention, time for introductions. This is a vice-principal of Kasugayama High School, Jun Kurosu. He will be in charge of the third-year students. Mr. Kurosu, this is our student council president, Makoto Nijima. I’m sure she will help you as much as she can.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss Nijima. I hope you can help me to keep the students in check. There is a bit more of you than I expected.” the newly introduced teacher, Mr. Kurosu said as he smiled in Makoto’s direction. Goro really didn’t like the look in the teacher’s eyes. It was just a bit too knowledgable for his comfort.

“Y-yes, it’s a pleasure to meet you as well, Mr.Kurosu. I will help as much as I can, Sir,” she said, as if on the reflex, but the teacher just continued smiling, even as Ms. Chouno turned away, to tell off the students who, at least to Goro, looked like they were trying to climb the school gate.

“Very well, help me gather your fellow third-years, please. Unfortunately, the lists of names of your students never made it to our school, so I’ll have to rely on you, at least for this matter,” he said softly, but Goro couldn’t help himself but doubt this man. Something about him just didn’t sit right.

“And you are?” the Teacher asked the rest of them, and Goro could see the panic in Ryuji’s eyes, because what if he heard them?! Thank god, Haru took the lead.

“Haru Okumura, third year and this Is Goro Akechi, who while isn’t a student at our school is here as supervision. This is Ryuji Sakamoto and next to him is Ann Takamaki in the second year. It’s very nice to meet you Sir,” she said with a small smile which was warmly returned.

“Oh my, what a well mannered young lady. I can only hope that all of you will enjoy your stay in our city. While we aren't as big as Tokyo, even this city has its charms.” he said and Goro almost thought he would wink at them, but the teacher just turned back on them as Ms. Chouno and Makoto called to him and three other teachers, as they sorted through the students. Goro, while still not trusting the obviously suspicious teacher, almost pitied him as he looked at the sea of the restless third years. There was no way that the petite looking teacher could make them listen.

* * *

Surprisingly, they didn’t end up in the classroom, but a gym, all of them sitting on soft pillows.

And then Goro realized he was wrong. Again.

While Jun Kurosu looked quite weak and petite, Goro realized that he had underestimated the other man, at least as a teacher, as soon as he stepped on the teacher’s podium. Somehow, the man in front of him transformed into a natural-born leader whose mere presence demanded respect in less than a minute. Soon enough, the entire year was sitting quietly as they tried to catch every word that fell from the man’s mouth, and Goro couldn’t help himself when he became a bit more suspicious. He wasn’t a detective prince for nothing after all. And such skill had to be learned or at least practiced somewhere, after all.

None the less, he continued to listen to the teacher as he continued his lecture, about the museum that became somewhat famous after the fire burned it down a decade or two back, about Mt.Iwato, a Mountain with natural water sources, pure and glittery, like mirrors, making it one of the most visited tourist attractions in the city. Seven Sisters High, a prestigious school almost on pair with Shujin, Sumaru TV, often visited by celebrities and such and Mt. Katatsumuri, one of the highest mountains in a vicinity, full of natural wildlife and secret paths all over. Goro was captured in the teacher’s speech, and even after he tried to focus on something, anything else, his attention was drawn back not a moment later.

It was almost as if he was hypnotized, but that wasn’t it. Jun Kurosu just emitted an aura that just screamed and demanded he was listened to, nothing more, nothing less. Goro was almost jealous if he was being honest.

And suddenly, he understood how the man ended up as a vice-principal and was given the entire year of teenagers for half a day, without anyone voicing any complaints. 

“Very well, any questions?” asked the man as the sea of the students still looked at him in awe, until one hand was raised, “Yes, miss?”

“Our teacher said something about this school being built on top of the bomb shelter, is that true?” to the surprise of at least half a gym, the teacher’s smile turned serious as he nodded.

“Yes, it is indeed. I am instructed to show you the entrance, but you are not permitted to cross it, understood? The tunnels are hard to navigate, rumored to not have an exit at all, and more than one student went missing while investigating them, only to be found a week later, if at all. Those unable to listen to these instructions are better off waiting for us at the main gate because as soon as you cross the entrance door, you are on your own. Not even police will help you in this case, as it’s one of the laws set in this city, not that you could call them. In the shelter, you will be unable to get any connection. Are we clear on that?” he said, almost frighteningly calm, and Goro’s heart started beating like a bell, as he could do nothing more than nod with the rest of the students.

“Any more questions?” he asked again, only to be met with total silence, “Very well, as I said before, those unable to resist the urge to explore will wait at the main gate. Rest will follow me, and please, do not get lost, the school is permitted only 5% losses each year.”

Goro was almost sure that the teacher was joking. Almost.

They ended up going in the groups of forty, with Mr. Kurosu leading each one of two groups down to the underground. Goro was somewhat thankful he ended up with Makoto and Haru, but definitely not as thankful as Makoto, who he could swear was trying to rip his arm off while mumbling about ghosts. Hura was surprisingly alright, even as cold air from a giant, heavy door reached them.

To Goro’s disbelief, Mr. Kurosu ended up even opening the door for them, just to show them the impenetrable darkness that lurked behind them. And then, he let them just stand in front of the door, as if to tell them to go, to try getting in and out by themselves, as the teacher stepped in front of the door leading back out.

“Now a bit of theory about this shelter. It was built in the year…” Mr. Kurosu continued his history lesson, but this time, Goro just couldn’t focus on him. The complete darkness behind his back made him feel like an easy target to whatever could be in there. From an iron grip Makoto had on his arm, and Haru’s frown, he could tell that neither of them felt safe here. And yet, he knew this feeling.

It was the same feeling he had every time he entered mementos, when he was forced to step onto the train tracks without Mona-car, be vulnerable to the shadows hiding in the darkness. He just hoped nothing bad would happen this time around, as he continued glancing at the darkness behind him.

And then, of course, his rotten luck struck again. Almost twenty minutes later, almost at the end of the history lesson spoken by Mr. Kurosu, something moved in the darkness, and this time, it wasn’t him that noticed.

Only a moment later, he saw two guys he didn’t recognize getting closer to the half-open door, too close for his liking. Haru, whose hand was currently being crushed by Makoto as well, noticed too, as her hand shot out to stop the boys from getting closer, catching one of them by the shoulder. And then the darkness moved again, a black hand shot out, and Goro couldn’t even let out a scream before he, Makoto, Haru and those idiotic classmates of theirs were pulled inside.

* * *

He came to, only to be greeted by the sound of battle, even if it didn’t set in just yet.

“Goro, wake up! We need help here!” shouted the voice he couldn’t quite place, but at the distress in said voice, his eyes opened anyway.

It was almost like a nightmare, and yet a lot more horrifying. Up until now, none of them have ever seen a shadow in the real world, but lo and behold, here it was, a woman-like figure with three faces, hurling fire and ice in Haru’s general direction, thankfully missing, while Makoto was trying to summon her persona, with varying levels of success.

“Freila!” she called again and again, only for her persona, Johanna, to manifest once, and even then, it was less visible than it should have been. Probably weaker as well, he concluded, as he realized that the shadow wasn’t going down.

He looked at Haru who nodded at him and focused as much as he could, and to his surprise, he could feel Loki inside of him, weaker than before, but still as responsive as ever.

“Megidolaon!” he called out, using one of his strongest moves in hope that it would be enough even in their weakened state. Thankfully, the shadow faded away before the spell even disappeared completely.

“You alright?” he asked slowly, somewhat surprised at how tired he felt just from one spell.

“Could be better,” answered Makoto, while Haru slid down one of the walls, clearly tired from dodging all the attacks.

“The idiots?” he remembered the guys who got them in the trouble, to begin with, and Haru nodded to the side. Only then did he noticed the figures laying almost next to him, and realized just how dark it was, the cave around them visible only thanks to a few agi spells that were lit by the shadow they fought. 

He reached to his bag to find his phone, only to reach in and find Morgana laying there, still as a stone. His heart was suddenly in his throat, as he carefully took out the cat’s unmoving body and put it on his knees. Makoto sharply inhaled as she saw what he was doing and came close, a phone in her hand, shining light onto Morgana’s small body. A rock lifted itself from Goro’s shoulder as Makoto finally realize that the cat was breathing and his heart was still beating.

“Alright… alright… wait, where is the exit?” he suddenly asked when he was finally able to think normally and looked around. Makoto and Haru followed his gaze, only to confirm what he himself saw before. There was no exit.

“Is- is it possible that the shadow dragged us somewhere else when we were unconscious?” Haru asked after a solid minute, only to be met with Makoto shaking her head.

“No, we just fell inside and I started fighting it. It attacked me the moment we were inside. Haru woke up about a minute later, and Goro shortly after. The exit was missing back then as well if I remember correctly.”

“So… it just disappeared?” Goro asked slowly, not believing words he was hearing.

“It seems like it?” was the answer he got, only to be interrupted by a loud groan.

“That hurts. What the hell happened?” asked one of the idiots that got them into this problem to begin with.

“What a great question. Why don’t you answer me that?” said Goro in the sweetest voice he could muster, but even in the dim light, his face just screamed Murder. The guys caught up to that quickly.

“Something was moving there, I swear! We didn’t mean to fall in! We are sorry!” well, at least they thought they fell in by themselves and it wasn’t the fault of a hand made out of the darkness.

“That’s nice and all, but we have no idea where the exit is, so unless you have an excuse that would get us out of here, you better start looking for one,” Goro said, his voice pure ice as he got up with Morgana in his arms, his eyes passing every wall, ceiling or ground in the hopes of finding anything at all. 

Meanwhile, the idiots continued to touch walls, Haru was still catching her breath, and Makoto was investigating the two doors at the sides of the tunnel.

“Both of them look the same, so if we plan to continue anywhere we have to pick a side. I would say right,” she said after what seemed like forever, yet Goro’s phone told him it was only five minutes.

“Right it is then.” he agreed and followed after Makoto, Haru and the idiotic duo in the back.

As if his nightmares have come to life, the place was crawling with shadows. Makoto next to him went rigid and Haru made a high noise to voice her displeasure. But the idiots behind them only looked confused as they continued, stepping right on top of the shadows. It was almost a blessing that they were unable to see them, thought Goro, as he looked after them and at the shadows which didn’t pay them any mind. And the lightbulb in his head blinked to life.

“We have to ignore them. If they think we don’t see them, they won’t attack.” or at least he hoped so, but they didn’t need to know that. Both girls nodded at him and continued after the other two idiots that took the lead.

After what seemed like another forever, they finally stumbled onto another room, only for their hope to be crushed, as the room looked almost identical to the first one. Only with what seemed like a skeleton inside. Goro absolutely refused to think about Mr. Kurosu’s words about the people that were never found. From the looks of the other four, he was almost certain they were all thinking the same thing.

They quickly put it out of their minds as they continued forward. Somewhere along the way, they lost all sense of direction, which they realized after they ended up back in the first tunnel.

“You have to be kidding me. Please just tell me this is a bad dream.” said one of the idiots and Goro glared at him. Even though he knew it technically wasn’t the fault of these guys, if they were going to die down here, someone was taking the blame one way or another.

“Let’s just continue,” he said in the end and all of them followed him without another word. It was almost laughable just how easy it was for the Phantom thieves to get lost in such a short time. Before long, none of them knew where they were going, as they decided to save batteries by only using one phone for light, and the darkness was just as thick as it appeared from the outside of the shelter. And finally, after what seemed like hours, something changed.

Goro tripped over the rock, and once again cursed his rotten luck while being thankful to heaven that he let Haru hold Morgana for him.

He expected to fall into the hard dirt under him, and for the better or worse, that didn’t happen. Instead, he fell on top of something no less solid than the ground, only soft and quite warm… and breathing, he realized after the thing under him inhaled sharply.

“I normally don’t wake up with pretty guys on top of me, but if I did, you would still take the cake for prettiest and rudest one of them all,” said the strained voice under him and Goro was back on his feet before he could count to three. The voice on the ground started coughing for a bit and only then did Goro realized that it was a man’s voice. Makoto only confirmed what Goro has been thinking when she directed the beam of light on the ground.

There sat a young man around their age, with black hair and glasses that reflected the light back at Goro, still coughing, but with a small smile on his face.

“So, who are you guys and what are you doing down there?” he asked as if nothing was wrong, and Goro was already doubting the guy’s sanity.

“Um, well, we are students from Shujin Academy and we... fell down here?” said Makoto slowly, as if she couldn’t believe her own eyes. Neither could Goro, but that was nor here nor there.

“And you got lost, right?” they could only nod and the guy started laughing, “Why didn’t you just wait where you ended up? Someone would have come to pick you up.”

They blinked at him once. Twice.

“B-b-but Mr. Kurosu said that if we fell down here, we are on our own! He even said that the school is allowed to have 5% losses or something like that!” said one of the idiots and the guy in front of them only laughed harder.

“Yeah, we do. For the students from our own school. And even then we always go down to get them out, only if to make sure we are not getting sued by their parents.” and now that he said that, yeah, it made much more sense.

“Why did he tell us that he would leave us here then?! I almost died, you know?!” cried the other idiot and Goro rolled his eyes, while the stranger finally got up from the ground.

“Of course he said that, do you know how many of you would be down here if he didn’t? Honestly. Of course dad wouldn’t want to spend his entire afternoon looking for some lost kids under the school building. I would do the same.” and Goro blinked again.

“Dad?” he asked slowly, not believing his own ears. The guy in front of him grinned and waved at them.

“Akira Kurosu, at your service. And who are you, handsome?” and Goro’s brain froze as he continued to stare at the guy in front of him, whose grin never wavered.

“Ehem, this is Goro Akechi. I’m Haru Okumura, this is Makoto Nijima and…” Haru looked at the boys behind her.

“Daisuke Momogami.” “Takeshi Sakoda.”

“Well, it’s nice to meet you all. I’m guessing you all want to get out, right?” at their eager nods, Akira laughed and waved his hand at them. They followed him slowly, trying to not trip over the rocks, and in the case of the Phantom thieves, to not step onto the shadow or to catch one’s gaze.

“So, this might be a bit insensitive, but what’s with the cat?” asked Akira all of the sudden and Goro was almost impressed he could see Morgana at all.

“He fell with us but didn’t wake up yet. We hope he’ll get better once we are out.” Goro said and Akira looked at him with what seemed like a pitying gaze before he smiled again, this time to Haru.

“You must be tired, I can hold him for you for a moment,” he said but didn’t get too close, letting her decide without being in her personal space. Goro appreciated it more than he let on, and when Haru turned to him with a question in her eyes, he somewhat reluctantly nodded. 

Morgana, despite being unconscious, fit into Akira’s arms as if he was made for it. The young man smiled at him as he was turning back and continued to lead them, hopefully, to the exit, and while Goro still didn’t trust him, something inside of him, sounding suspiciously like Loki, already trusted this guy enough to let him hold Morgana. It was confusing, and at the same time, he couldn’t help himself but smile at the back of the guy’s head.

Soon enough they were back in the room where they woke up and Goro was back to being confused.

“But… there is nothing here.” said one of the idiots, and Goro reluctantly agreed with them. And Akira just smiled at them, before passing Morgana back to Haru.

“That’s just because you don’t know how to find that something.” and then he readjusted his glassed and took something out of his pocket. With a quiet click, a small lighter came to life, reflecting in Akira’s glasses, and the teen grinned. Then he turned to one side, facing the wall. With a free hand, he pushed the wall away from him and the wall.... opened? The light flooded the small tunnel and Akira smiled at their expressions, before letting all of them out.

As soon as their eyes got used to the light, they realized two things. One was that the sun starting to set already, and the other was Mr. Kurosu’s sighing face.

“Akira, how many times do I have to tell you that there are better places to take a nap than abandoned bomb shelters?” he said quietly in a voice that was half amused and half disapproving.

“Maybe one more?” said the black-haired teen, but before he could continue, his attention was stolen by the cat in Haru’s arms, already meowing for attention.

“What happened?! How long was I out?!” Margana started yelling, to which Akira and his dad only raised their eyebrows.

“Well anyway, we should get you back to your classmates. Last I checked, they were freaking out and planning a rescue mission.” and that was no doubt Ryuji if Goro had to guess, while Akira was trying to forcefully shut his mouth so he wouldn’t burst out laughing, while Makoto just looked done, and Haro was trying to quiet Morgana down.

Akira ended up accompanying them all the way to the bus, arguing with his dad about what they were making for dinner. Mr. Kurosu was obviously winning, even though his only argument was that he was cooking today.

As expected, Ryuji and Ann were freaking out when they came out, almost crying in fact. After somewhat weird few minutes, in which Makoto’s homeroom teacher scolded them to high heavens, Ryuji and Ann’s teary introductions to Akira and somewhat reluctant goodbyes, and Ms. Chouno thanking Mr. Kurosu for finding their students, they were allowed to board the bus. 

Akira waved at them until they couldn’t see him anymore, despite knowing them for less than an hour, and only then did Goro finally allowed himself to rest. But nothing was ever that easy.

“Hey, hey, listen before you doze off on me! You have to write to the others to meet us in your room!” Morgana almost screamed into his ear as Makoto tried to make him be quieter.

“What? Why now?” he asked, already regretting it. He would not be sleeping on the ride to the hotel after all.

“I have important information! Now hurry, I refuse to repeat it twice!”

“I’ll take care of it Goro, try to get some sleep, alright?” offered Makoto and Goro thankfully smiled at her. And yet, he still couldn’t fall asleep, this time for a different reason. He could feel the heat rushing to his cheeks as he remembered laying on something warm and soft, the words in his head on repeat- “And who are you, handsome?”

* * *

“The boy has a persona, if not multiple of them,” said Morgana and Goro’s mind once again froze.

“Excuse me, could you repeat that? I think I heard you wrong,” he said slowly and Morgana turned to him.

“That Kurosu guy? He has a persona and smells of multiple ones. The whole way back when he carried me? I was unconscious, but I am the healer of this group. I know how it feels to _be_ healed, and either that boy is a magician or he has enormous stamina because he was just spamming healing constantly.” he repeated and Ryuji looked ready to explode.

“Why didn’t you say that earlier, you dumb cat?! We could have done something back there!”

“I’m NOT a cat! And what could you have done in front of your whole school? And against two Persona users that smell a lot stronger than any of you? Not to mention they could have the same ability as Goro! Can you even imagine how much trouble you would be in?!”

“Wait,” said Makoro, surprise on her face oblivious, “What do you mean two Persona users?”

“Oh, that! I forgot,” Morgana turned away from still fuming Ryuji, “I was trying to tell you back in the gym but both of you ignored me! The teacher? He is a Persona user too! I wasn’t certain until they said they were family, but now it makes sense! One of them can probably switch personas like Goro and because they live together, their scents must have mixed together! Nyahaha, see, bow down to my genius! I figured it out!”

“Stop! Isn’t that like, mega bad? I mean, you said that this city smells like metaverse and now we met not one, but two persona users?! I don’t believe it!” said Ryuji only for Ann to continue.

“What are we going to do?! What if they know and are just waiting to get rid of us?!”

“Now, now, I’m sure you are exaggerating. Akira got us out of the bomb shelter, remember? If he wanted to get rid of us, he could have just left us there.” tried Haru but it did little to lift the mood.

“I’m calling Futaba. She should be able to find out something about the Kurosu family until tomorrow. Until then, I want all of you to try sleeping as much as you can. Tomorrow, we are supposed to visit Mt. Iwato and the museum. After that, we should be free for the rest of the day. Then, we will decide on the plan with information from Futaba, understood?” asked Makoto and Goro could do nothing more than a simple nod. 

After the others finally vacated his room, all Goro wanted to do was sleep for a week. And as soon as his head hit the pillow, he was out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> next up, plot and Akira flirting better than any other unsociable person ever could


	2. 2nd day - Happy to See You Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We move through the school trip and Akira proves that he really shouldn't become a history teacher like his dad, or any teacher for that matter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is just me, realizing that I don't know how to write half of these characters

Goro’s second day started even worse than the last one. At first, he woke up to the sound of Morgana pushing a glass of water to the ground on accident. Then, after he cleaned the sharp pieces of glass, he realized that it was still only 4 AM, and tried to go back to sleep, only to find out that he couldn’t fall back asleep. No to mention that in the meantime, Margana has already gone back to sleep, on top of him, and that meant he couldn’t move unless he was prepared to listen to the cat’s meowing all-day. And so, his first two hours of the day were spent by looking to the ceiling, while trying to reach his phone on the bedside table. He didn’t reach it.

At six, Morgana finally woke up and he was finally allowed to get up. Then, the day got even worse, while simultaneously better, because Futaba obviously did her job, and the Phantom thieves chatroom was already filled with her messages, telling them to call as soon as they can, and Makoto already making sure that the others are up and that they can meet up in Goro’s room. Again.

He quickly changed from his pijamas, and not a minute later, he could already hear a knocking on his door. As expected, behind them stood Makoto and Haru, already in their school uniforms, Ann, also in her uniform, but half asleep, and Ryuji, still in his PJ and ready to fall over. Goro let them in as discreetly as possible, but he already gave up hope that nobody saw them.

“Alright, I’m calling her,” said Makoto and by the time others nodded, Futaba’s voice was already heard in the room.

“Really guys? You left just yesterday and I’m already sent info hunting?” she said in a voice that Goro guessed was supposed to sound annoyed, but the cheerfulness was too obvious. 

“Sorry Futaba, this was important. Did you find something?” continued Makoto and Futaba laughed.

“Who do you think I am? I have so much info I could become a private detective! Well, what would you like to know?”

“Preferably as much as possible,” was the answer and Futaba on the other side giggled. All of their phones vibrated as Futaba sent them a message with three photos. One was younger Mr. Kurosu, the other was around 18 years old man with brown hair and the third was Akira, roughly age 7.

“Alrighty, first thing first, Jun Kurosu. He is 34, born February 14th, vice- principal of Kasugayama High School, as well as a co-owner of the White Rose, one of the most successful flower shops in Sumaru city. He is in a relationship and legal partnership with his supposed childhood sweetheart, Tatsuya Suou, chief of the police department. Neither of them has any offenses to their names, no violations of law, not even a parking ticket, but again, that might just be the whole chief of the police thing. Mr. Kurosu became a business owner as 21 years old, and a teacher a bit later, at 27. He became vice-principal 2 years later after that last one disappeared under mysterious circumstances.

“Next up, Akira Kurosu, birth name Amamiya. 17, born January 3rd, adopted at the age of 5 by Mr. Kurosu, after his birth parents were arrested for negligence and drug trafficking. Since adoption, he became a model child, perfect grades, perfect attendance, pristine behavior. Only thing is that he hopped the clubs like crazy. Seriously, even in elementary school, in his third year, he switched over twelve of them, starting with math and ending with basketball. He was also super good in them, even winning some prizes in English, Japanese and Sports. On the contrary, his contacts indicate that he is a loner, with no more than two close friends, and even those are his cousins. All the others are his family and family friends. He also works at the White Rose part-time and is the employee of the month every month, so to speak. 

“Last but not least, as their careers would indicate, the entire family’s bank accounts are stacked, not rich per se, but good enough to live in a big house and go on a vacation overseas twice a year. And that’s about how much I dug up in such a short time!” she finished her rambling, and the rest of the Phantom thieves were left speechless.

“Whoa, Futaba! Good job, really, but you didn’t need to hack their bank accounts!” said Ann after a while

“Well, maybe not, but they could have been receiving suspicious payments or something! I couldn’t leave it like that! Unfortunately, they are completely clean as far as I can say.”

“Nothing weird? We are looking for anything at all, anything that could somehow connect them to the metaverse.” tried Makoto and for the first time on the other side could be heard fingers moving across the keyboard.

“Well, it’s not weird per se, but there are some problems with a few things in their past. For example, there is this old article that talks about a few students from Seven Sisters High that ended up in the hospital after bullying some other kids. Well, they said that it was actually Mr. Kurosu who beat them up so badly, but there was no evidence and he was so small, nobody believed a word from them. Mr. Kurosu left Seven Sisters High shortly after.

“Then there are some weird things about the city, mentions about some cult or something? Supposedly, someone with the nickname Joker took over most of the city and threaten to blow up some buildings, alongside the museum which actually did burn down, but then disappeared without a trace, so that may have something to do with the metaverse.

“And oh, there is something about that Tatsuya Suou! He saved some kids from that burning museum by taking off on the airship from the top of the museum, and crashing it into the ocean?! How the hell?!”

Once again, the Phantom thieves were left speechless. Whose first idea to rescue someone from a burning building is to take an airship and crash it into the ocean?! And he became chief of the police department?!

“Well, if the guy grew up with these people, it’s already so much clearer why he would think that sleeping in the abandoned bomb shelter would be alright,” said Ryuji slowly and Goro could only nod.

* * *

They didn’t have a plan, or at least, not one that could actually work to obtain information without raising suspicion.

But that was alright, they told themselves, they could come up with one in the museum or something, right? As it turned up, no, they really couldn’t.

As soon as the busses stopped in front of the re-built Aerospace museum, they were once again sorted by the year, so that each year how a certain amount of time on one floor and then they would switch. Not a bad idea, just a useless one since the entire museum was reserved for their school for a day. 

And then came another problem, because as soon as they were allowed to look around, Haru took him and Makoto aside, only to point in the direction of the entrance. Both of them turned around to see what she was pointing at, only for Goro to groan out loud.

“You have to be kidding me,” he said slowly because as soon as he turned, he saw the brown hair and the face that looked like it barely any different from the photo they received just this morning and recognized the person instantly. Tatsuya Suou, while older and dressed in the police uniform, was unmistakable. Next to him stood a woman his age, with blond hair, trying to catch his attention, as she was hanging from his forearm, and as loud as Ryuji.

“Darling, don’t be like that, you have to tell me everything! Next time I see my sweet nephew I have to embarrass him nice and proper! The makeup doesn’t work like it used to anymore!” the man, Mr. Suou, only sighed as if he was already used to it.

“I wasn’t there Lisa. You will have to ask Jun.”

“Oh, come on, I know he told you everything as soon as he made it home! And you know Jun won’t tell me anything since Akira’s second year in middle school.” 

“It’s well deserved, in my opinion.”

“It wasn’t that bad! I think you all are just exaggerating.”

“Akira refused to leave the house for two days and you know that.” the woman next to him only smiled wider and continued to pull the man’s arm.

“Should we try talking to them?” asked Makoto after a minute of complete silence, and Goro shook his head.

“Let’s try to look inconspicuous and listen to them for a bit, then we can try,” he answered and both of them nodded. Unfortunately for them, the woman only continued to bug the man about the trivial things, like his home life, work and such.

And then Morgana’s head popped out of the bag.

“Hey, be careful! Both of them have personas!” the cat said and Goro almost facepalmed. Did everyone in this town have a persona or what?!

Everything then went out the window as behind him, he could hear someone make a noise that he could only describe as the excitement of someone who tried to stay at least somewhat quiet, and Goro turned back, already mortified. His fears came true as the blond woman was staring right at him, with a wide smile on her face and Mr. Suou behind her looking as if he just lost all hope in the world.

“Kitty!” she whisper-screamed as she slowly came closer, only for Mr. Suou to hold her back and nod at Goro, Makoto, and Haru, as if to tell them to come closer. The three of them looked at each other before slowly advancing to the woman still smiling and looking at Morgana and them.

The woman’s eyes started sparkling as soon as Morgana was in the vicinity, who was trying to bury himself back into Goro’s bag, unsuccessfully. 

“Eh, good morning.” Goro started slowly only for the woman to throw herself onto him and dragging Morgana out of his bag.

“Kitty, kitty! Look, Darling, it’s so cute and fluffy,” she said, ignoring Morgana trying to get out of her arms.

“Lisa, the cat can’t breathe. You also shouldn’t touch something that isn’t yours without asking, ” said Mr. Suou in a voice that sounded like he really didn’t want to deal with this, but in the end took Morgana from the woman with a bit of struggle and passed it back to Goro, “I’m sorry for that, she is just crazy.”

And Goro really wanted to think he was just teasing the woman but realized that he really couldn’t tell with his voice that, at least to him, sounded completely flat.

“No way, I’m totally normal! Everyone would agree!”

“Eikichi wouldn’t.”

“He has no reason to complain!”

“You broke his hand over a wedding bouquet.”

“And he punched me in the face, what’s your point? Wait, how do you even remember that?!”

“Lisa, that was my wedding.”

“Yeah, I know. Doesn’t change the fact that you only noticed something happened when an ambulance arrived since you were too occupied staring into your husband’s eyes! Of course, I thought you would forget it right away!” to the surprise of all, Mr. Suou blushed a weak shade of red. The blonde lady, Lisa, giggled.

“Doesn’t change my point.” Mr. Suou said a second later.

“I guess not. Oh, right! I’m Lisa Silverman! And you are the guys Akira got out of the bomb shelter yesterday, right? He said it was some third years with the cat.”

“Well, yes. I’m Makoto Nijima, the student council president, this is Haru Okumura, a friend of mine, and Goro Akechi, acting as supervision, nice to meet you, Miss. Silverman” and the woman smiled even wider.

“Just Lisa is fine, after all…” she started and presented them her left hand, where sat a beautiful ring with a blue stone, “ I won’t be Miss Silverman for long!”

“Whoa, I mean, congratulations Miss- I mean, Lisa.” Makoto stuttered out after a moment and Goro was almost certain that Mr. Suou was laughing. Thankfully, he didn’t let them embarrass themselves too much.

“Lisa, you just met them, they don’t even know you,” he said and turned back to them, his gaze almost piercing through Goro, and suddenly, Goro thought that being embarrassed would have been better “I’m Tatsuya Suou, Akira’s father, nice to meet you. He and my husband told me about you.” 

_ Told him what?!  _ Akechi didn’t even try to ask, already scared for an answer.  _ About personas, cat, or something else??  _

“It’s nice to meet you as well, Mr. Suou,” he said instead, not certain if his inner panic was showing, as Mr. Suou continued looking at him. Lisa giggled.

“Now, now, I know Darling can look intimidating, but there is no reason to worry! He is only lost in thoughts, probably just trying to figure out where to take Jun later. Don’t tell anyone but even though he doesn’t look it, he is actually romantic to the bone!”

“Lisa!” Mr. Suou exclaimed, but it’s not like she was wrong. Most people wouldn’t look at the police officer that was towering over them with almost two meters and think of him as romantic. Goro wouldn’t believe it either if he couldn’t see a bright red blush onto his face.

“As if I’m lying! But that doesn’t matter. Come on, come on, tell me, what do you think of Akira? He is a sweet boy, gentleman as well, isn’t he? You should also tell me what happened yesterday in that shelter, Jun won’t tell me anything, I swear he still thinks of me as a little kid who would spread rumors just like that!”

Goro wasn’t sure what rumors she meant but after a second, he decided he didn’t want to know. Instead, he decided on the shortest and the least interesting truth he could manage.

“Emm, nothing? I mean, we fell in, got lost, found him and he took us out. And that’s all, really.” Lisa’s smile didn’t get smaller.

“And Akira? What about him? What do you think of him? My sweet, dear nephew doesn’t have many friends, but I’m sure he at least made a good first impression”

_ I normally don’t wake up with pretty guys on top of me, but if I did, you would still take the cake for prettiest and rudest one of them all,  _ said the silky voice in Goro’s head and Goro wanted to bury his head in his hands. Yeah, good first impression, right.

“He is… nice. Certainly interesting,” said Makoto instead. Lisa just waved her hand, while he playfully slapped Mr. Suou’s arm with the other.

“Yep, he got that from his parents, but he is actually kind of shy, just like darling used to be back in High School. You should have seen him, all the girls had a crush on him, and all he could think of was his motorcycle, Jun and just how embarrassing the whole situation was!”

“Lisa!” now, Mr. Suou really looked like he wanted to facepalm.

“I see… He actually looked quite confident,” confessed Haru.

“Yeah, he does that a lot, but don’t let it fool you! He was probably panicking the whole time, maybe even worse than you.”

“O-oh, I’m sorry, we didn’t want to make him uncomfortable,” said Haru but Lisa only laughed.

“Uncomfortable? No, no, big sis Maya told me that he was super excited when talking about you guys if anything, you made a better first impression than anyone else in the school!”

“When did you get to talk to Maya?” asked Mr. Suou, somehow looking more miserable than before. 

“Yesterday, when else? She said she would help me plan the wedding! She even promised to go look at the dresses with me, since I said that hers were the most beautiful anyway.”

“They did look quite nice.” agreed with her Mr. Suou after a second. Lisa looked at him with betrayal. 

“You were supposed to say that I will be beautiful as well, no matter the dress!”

Goro was starting to believe that Lisa was just unable to stay on the same topic for more than two minutes.

“Will she ever stop?” asked Morgana quietly and Goro was half tempted to just turn and run from them as Lisa’s eyes turned back to the cat in his hands.

“Now, now, don’t be mad, kitty! I have every reason to be excited for my own wedding right? I mean, I am the last one to marry, even Eikichi somehow managed to get married before me! Can you believe that?!” no, Goro couldn’t believe that. He really didn’t know if the woman realized she was talking to Morgana, the cat that shouldn’t be talking, but that obviously wasn’t enough, as Morgana continued.

“Not. A. Cat! My name is Morgana, and I’m not a cat!”

“Morgana, got it! But still, if you were to get married, you would be excited too! Just imagine, your soon to be wife, walking down the aisle, in a beautiful white dress, smiling at you through the veil.” 

“Lady Ann…” and with that, Morgana was lost in his daydream and Mr. Suou finally facepalmed. Goro slowly put the daydreaming cat back to his bag.

“What happened to not doing anything suspicious Lisa?” but Lisa only shook her head.

“They were obviously trying to find some information, and I don’t see any harm in talking to such a fluffy creature.”

“Of course you don’t.”

“Wait, were you here just so you could spy on us?” asked Makoto after the conversation finally sunk in.

“No. I’m here as a security measure, and Lisa is here to listen to the gossip and be my company.”

“And you don’t want anything from us?” asked Haru, looking as if she didn’t believe a word.

“What, did you expect blackmail or something? Come on, do we look like someone who would bully some kids? Other than that, Igor said hands off, so for now, even if you asked for help, we are in no position to help.”

“You know Igor?” asked Goro before he could shut his mouth.

“Oh, so you know him? That means he helps you quite a bit, right? It’s been a long time since I saw him personally, but when you see him next, say hi to him for me, alright?” continued Lisa, with Mr. Suou shaking his head in the background.

“You three!” suddenly shouted a voice behind them and when they turned, Ms. Chouno looked mad, “We are supposed to look at the exhibition, not chat! Come on, we are moving to the next floor. I’m very sorry for them.” she continued, this time at Mr. Suou.

“There is no need. They were curious about the history of the museum itself and asked us about it, so while they weren’t exactly studying, I’m sure they at least learned something new,” said Mr. Suou without missing a beat and for once, Ms. Chouno looked almost happy.

“Is that so! Oh, very well then, it’s great to see such young minds learning the most they can on their own, wouldn’t you agree?”

“Yes indeed! At first, they only came to ask about the fire, but once we started, we all somehow got lost in the flow of time, you see?” added Lisa smiling at the teacher, and then waved at them, as the three of them continued to the different floor.

* * *

“Wait, wait, wait! They just told you as if it was nothing?!” spoke Ryuji as soon as they were out of the museum, and only then did Goro realized how very similar was Ryuji’s speech to Lisa’s. 

“They didn’t say they had a persona, per se, she just talked to Morgana about her wedding and then told Goro to say hi to someone named Igor,” said Makoto quietly, looking around for anyone who would try to listen in.

“Igor?! Who is that?” Goro sighed.

“He helps me manage my personas, remember? In the velvet room?”

“Oh yeah, I remember,” precious three seconds of quiet and then- “Wait, does that mean she can switch persona as well?!”

“If it is how I think it is, then all of them can switch,” said Morgana so quiet even Goro had a problem hearing him.

“What?! You said it was probably just one of them, right?” Ryuji obviously heard him just fine, though.

“I said probably! And they don’t smell like each other. If they just smelled like each other personas, they should smell similar, right? Well, they don’t! The teacher we met yesterday, the guy from today and the boy smelled kind of similar, so I thought it was just that! But no! It’s too different. All of them can probably switch personas, Lisa included.”

“You are already on a first-name basis?!” asked Ryuji and Morgana grinned.

“Of course! One day, I will invite her to my wedding instead of you! Nyahaha!”

* * *

Unfortunately, or maybe, fortunately, they couldn’t go up the entire Mt. Iwato because of the bad weather. Goro, personally, didn’t understand, because it was only the end of September and quite warm, but he didn’t complain. Instead, the ended up going only to the first water spring, and only then Goro realized that Mr. Kurosu wasn’t exaggerating at all.

The water was crystal clear, sparkly and icy to touch, almost a mirror itself, and even the walls reflected the waves of the water and gave the entire room a somewhat magical aura. If this was an anime, Goro was sure that this would be a place where the hero realizes his worth and potential as the world grants him some magical abilities.

The trip, in Goro’s opinion, was worth it, even if Ryuji and Morgana disagreed.

* * *

As the trip at Mt. Iwato ended sooner than anyone expected, the teachers asked where would the students want to go, and even though Goro only wanted to go back to the hotel and sleep for at least four hours, luck wasn’t in his favor again today.

“Alright, Seaside Mall it is!” said Ms. Chouno and all the phantom thieves groaned. They just wanted to go somewhere private so they could finally have a proper conversation about what to do next.

“Alright, when we get there, we’ll find some secure place to talk, alright?” asked Makoto quietly and without waiting for a response, turned around and boarded the bus. The others looked at each other, and Ryuji added:

“Wait, weren’t you supposed to be the leader?” and Goro just sighed.

* * *

Seaside Mall, as it turns out, was in the Kounan district, right beside Aerospace Museum they visited earlier, and Goro really couldn’t shake the feeling that whatever was going to happen here, he would deeply regret it. 

“So, now what?” Ann asked as soon as they were standing as out of sight as possible, near the back of the mall, “I mean, Mr. Suou said that they didn’t really care, right? Should we do the same, or...?”

“I don’t trust them,” said Haru slowly, “They seem trustworthy, but so do many other adults when they want to use you.”

“That is true,” added Goro, “not to mention that they didn’t tell us anything we didn’t suspect before, and even then, they made sure they never said persona or shadow, the only thing we know is that they understand Morgana and know Igor.”

“Maybe they are just suspicious? We know that Futaba’s mum worked in the field that studied metaverse, so maybe they don’t mention it to protect themselves,” added Ann.

“Yeah, and we were in public! Who in their right mind would be talking about personas and shadows in public and broad daylight?” asked Ryuji and suddenly, Goro felt the hair on the back of his head standing up. Was that-?!

“What a great question. I could ask you the same, actually.” said the silky voice behind them and they all turned with a speed of light. There stood Akira, with a green apron and a smirk on his lips, “Who would talk about something like that in a broad daylight? Would it be the Phantom thieves who can steal hearts, perhaps?”

By the time his word registered in their heads, they all were as white as a sheet of paper.

“W-what, no way! What are you talking about? Hey, how did you even get here?!” asked Ryuji, every word louder than the previous one. Akira only stepped to the side and pointed at something behind him.

“I’m working part-time,” he said, and the others could finally see a shop with a title that simply read: White Rose, not even 50 meters behind them. Makoto paled further. 

“No, we just-” and Akira started laughing.

“No need for that, papa already called me that he met you at the museum. Not to mention that the others could feel you as soon as you stepped in Sumaru,” he said, laughter slowly fading, “honestly, you people are really bad at keeping secrets, aren’t you? Dad even pretended that he couldn’t hear the- Morgana was it? In school. He said he almost started laughing in front of more than a hundred students, or something like that.”

“I- I see,” said Makoto, still not quite relived. Goro, on the other hand, was getting a headache.

“Come on inside. It wouldn’t be good if someone else heard you, right?” after a quick look at each other, the Phantom thieves hurried after him without another word.

“You have some questions, right? Well then, go on. I will ask after, sounds good?” said Akira after they all got inside and Akira flipped the sign at the door to the flower shop. In Goro’s humble opinion, the place looked like a mess, but that might just have been him.

“Sounds good, I think?” said Ann slowly and Makoto nodded.

  
“Yes, let’s start simple. Do you have a persona?”

“Yep, I thought you already knew that?”

“Just making sure. One or more?” 

“Right now? Just two, but I can have twelve at a time, last I checked. Are you guys alright?” he asked somewhat concerned after seeing their expressions.

“Twelve?! Goro, how many can you have?” and Goro closed his eyes for a moment just to count.

“Five, I think?” 

“That’s a good number. I mean, dad said that people these days are mostly born with just one, so five is quite good, right? You all have just one, right?”

“Yes, we do. We were unaware that people should have more than one, actually.”

“No, no, one is actually normal! Well, people only have one shadow, so one persona is what it should have been normally. But papa said that in the past there was this one guy that gave persona users the ability to switch personas, but since he is no longer around as much as he used to, switching is becoming quite rare nowadays.”

“...What guy?”

“Philemon, he is supposedly some god or whatnot.” 

“...A god…” Makoto repeated.

“I’m sure I never met any god, just so you know,” said Goro, and Akira smiled at him.

“What about a butterfly nobody else can see?” Goro gulped. It was a truth that he sometimes saw a blue butterfly around his head, but how was he supposed to know that it was deity?

“Don’t worry about it, no matter what you did, I am certain that if he was mad at someone, it would definitely be me, or my parents. Yep, that makes more sense, actually.” Akira added as if it explained everything.

“What the hell did your parents do to make a god angry?!” asked Ryuji in a shocked voice. Goro was almost surprised that nobody seemed to hear him outside.

“They made a deal, then they broke it and the whole town got messed up, you know, the usual.”

“You mean the weird building we saw on the way to your school?” asked Morgana, sitting on a counter, “And what do you mean they broke the deal?! With god?!”

“On the way to school… Oh, you mean the Aquarius Temple! Yeah, I’m surprised you didn’t see the other three if you saw that one. They are a lot more visible, in my opinion.” Akira answered, completely disregarding the other question.

“What do you mean the other three?!” yelled Ryuji. Akira just pointed through the glass door at the window they were standing at not even half an hour ago. The view was focused on the Aerospace museum and the ocean behind it. 

“What’s wrong with the- HOLLY SHIT!” and now Ryuji was really yelling, as in the place of the museum stood a giant, circle building, making it impossible to see the water.

“Yeah, I told you, the town got messed up. Not that most people can see it, so that’s a plus.”

“What the fuck happened here?!” continued Ryuji as if he didn’t even hear. Akira sighed.

“Would saying that aliens did it be enough? It’s kind of a long story.” Goro looked him straight in the eyes and in a sharp tone said: 

  
“The teacher said we are free until six.” Akira groaned.

“Fine then, but just the quick version, alright? There was this god that tried getting rid of the world and decided to have a bit of fun along the way. So, he made all rumors in Sumaru come true. All of them. Dad got manipulated into leading the cult until Papa saved him by fighting resurrected Hitler, and no, I will not elaborate. Then the aliens came and people realized that the whole town actually became a spaceship and the rest of the word got torn apart, got it for now?” 

“No, not really,” said Ann slowly and surprisingly timidly.

“Great, because now we get to the complicated part.”

“This part wasn’t complicated?!” 

“Well, since the world was kind of gone, papa and friends had to, kind of, fight the got that made the rumors come true in the first place. That’s where Philemon comes in. Papa made a deal with him that if they forgot about that world, he made a new one and he said yes. simple, right? So of course, nothing went as planned, papa couldn’t forget and get stuck in the old world. But that god that he fought? Surprise, surprise, he wasn’t actually dead. I will spare you the weirder parts, but the point is that papa got to the new world with his memories and when all was set and done, he was supposed to go back. That obviously didn’t happen since, you know, he and dad are still here. Well, anyways, papa couldn’t go back to the old world for some reason, and trust me, he tried. The others remembered everything as well and the deal with Philemon was broken. This is the part where the world should have ended, but since Philemon was weak or something, it actually merged the old and the new world. And since nothing else than Sumaru actually existed in the old world, the rest of the world wasn’t affected.” ended Akira and Goro could already feel the headache.

“So now they, what, coexist?” he asked after a solid minute.

“More like they overlap. Most of the time you can’t see the old world, but the parts where shadows exist are somewhat easier to see.”

“The temples?” Goro continued and Akira smiled.

“Yeah, then we have the bomb shelter where we met and abandoned factory, Seven Sisters high school- do you need a glass of water?” he asked suddenly and Goro could see why. Ann looked like she just woke up from a nightmare and Ryuji was trembling while sitting on the counter next to Morgana, who also looked like a mess. Makoto and Haru looked somewhat composed, but Goro could see Haro worrying her lower lip and Makoto’s legs looked ready to collapse. Goro was sure he also didn’t look well.

“If you would be so kind,” he said and tried to smile, but his face refused to cooperate. Akira nodded at him and walked farther into the shop.

“The world- was it really destroyed?” asked Ann with a weak voice. Morgana shivered.

“He wasn’t lying, whatever he said must have been what his parents told him. Who knows, maybe he even lived through it.”

“I have to disappoint you there, even though I don’t know the dates exactly, I was either still not born, or less than a year old baby. Even if I could remember, there is nothing  _ to  _ remember,” said Akira, coming back with six glasses and a bowl on a tray, “but family, my own parents, they wouldn’t lie about something like that. And you can trust me that the nightmares they still have is proof enough.”

“Alright, what I’m getting from that is that you are saying that we should never trust gods and this town is fucked up and we should run,” said Ryuji and Goro was almost sure he wasn’t serious. Akira smiled.

“You can interpret it like that. To be honest, I’ve grown to love this town, so my opinion may not be as logical as it probably should, but to me, this is my home, bad history and all.”

“What about murderous shadows?” the blond boy continued and Akira actually laughed.

“The shadows didn’t get the memo that the worlds merged like that. As long as they think you can’t see them, they think you are in a world they can’t reach and don’t even try to attack. Just don’t make eye contact and act like they aren’t even there, you will be fine.”

For a long while, all of them remained quiet, sipping on their water and trying to take it all in. Even dealing with shadows couldn’t prepare you something like this. Aliens, cults, gods resurrecting people and making rumors come true? Suddenly, Goro was almost happy that he only had to deal with some rotten adults.

“Are you guys better?” asked Akira as he started collecting their empty glasses, “I was honestly scared I would have to call someone for help, you looked ready to collapse.”

“It- it was a lot to take in,” answered Makoto, still holding herself on her feet.

“Yeah, it probably was. Sorry, I forgot that normal people aren’t used to things like that. Should have taken that into consideration,” he smiled gently as an apology. 

“Well, we aren’t completely normal either, but it was still a bit much,” added Haru and Goro had to agree.

“For now, I think, that was enough. It’s also getting a bit close to the meeting time,” said Goro and the rest turned to look at the clock. It was true, they would be going back to the hotel soon enough.

“Just a second,” said Akira with a smile just a bit too wide, “I answered your questions, and I have some myself, you know.”

Goro gulped, They really didn’t think this through.

“Don’t worry, no need to panic, I have just three questions and then I let you go, sounds fair?” he added at their expressions.

“Well, get on with it then,” said Ryuji and Goro want to strange something.

“First of all, what is your program for tomorrow?” Goro blinked a few times, just to make sure his brain wasn’t playing tricks on him.

“We have a free day if I remember correctly,” said Makoto, also blinking.

“Great, can I take you guys out tomorrow? To show you the city and so, just to prove that it really isn’t as bad as it sounds.” all of them continued blinking while Akira just smiled.

“Al-alright? I mean, as weird as it sounds, I do want to learn more about the city,” said Ann with a small smile.

“Fantastic, don’t worry just one more and I will be out of your hair.” Akira continued and then he turned straight at Goro, smiling as sweetly as he could:

“Can I get your number?”

Goro was almost sure his soul just gave up and flew out of his body, as the blood started rushing to his cheeks. Almost.

* * *

Akira was way too giggly when he accompanied them in front of the building. In Goro’s opinion, the reaction was too much for one phone number. 

* * *

A few hours later, already in his bed, Goro started cursing Akira Kurosu, as his cheeks were painted with a red blush, after the black-haired boy called him just to tell good night to him.

“Oh boy, you got it bad,” said Morgana from the pillow next to him and Goro glared at him, before shutting his eyes, and trying to sleep, the silky voice still fresh in his mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me: So, Jun is Papa and Tatsuya is dad, right?  
> My brain: Akira knew it would annoy them and started calling Tatsuya papa and Jun dad. All three of them got so used to it the don't even try to change it  
> Me: ...You know what, that works

**Author's Note:**

> Please let me know what you think! Whatever is fine, really!
> 
> (thirsty for appreciation)


End file.
